Spirited Calgary squad holds off Avalanche 3-1 in battle between two worst teams in the NHL

Photograph by: Chris Schneider
, Associated Press

DENVER — Michael Cammalleri has done the research, so he understands precisely why Calgary Flames fans might have been tempted Monday night to cheer for the Colorado Avalanche.

Under the NHL lottery system, the 30th-place team has a better shot than the 29th place team at picking first overall in 2013 entry draft. So Cammalleri can forgive the faithful for wanting the Flames to extend their losing ways at the Pepsi Center and slide into 30th place.

“I’ve heard all the candour about must-lose,” Cammalleri says. “I know it’s 25 per cent chance or 18 per cent chance at the first pick. I looked it up. “Bad news, Flames fans. On a night when many wanted them to do anything but, the local heroes dispatched the basement-dwelling Avalanche 3-1 to snap a five-game losing streak and a 13-game winless skid on the road.

Goalie Joey MacDonald made several stellar saves in the third period — including a pad stop on Matt Duchene as he swooped through the blue paint and a glove grab on Cody McLeod — to preserve the two points for Calgary.

“We all know what’s at stake,” said left wing Alex Tanguay, who sealed the win on a short-handed breakaway at 16:41. “We all know what the odds are if you finish last or second last. But I think the top three or four players in this year’s draft are outstanding players.”

He’s right on that count, but drafting first overall is clearly the ideal scenario.

“We all understand the fans in Calgary might not be happy about seeing us win the game,” Tanguay said. “But our situation is what it is.“A lot of young guys are playing for a job next year. A lot of guys are playing to keep their position.”

With the playoffs out of the realm of possibility, Flames head coach Bob Hartley pledged to use the game as a testing ground for the youngsters like Roman Horak, Brett Carson, T.J. Brodie, Max Reinhart and Sven Baertschi.

Mired in a similar predicament, the injury-plagued Avalanche also saw the game as a chance to provide the coaching staff with audition tape to review for next season.

Colorado enforcer Patrick Bordeleau certainly made an impression. First off, he plastered centre Matt Stajan into the boards several steamboats after the whistle sounded on an offside.

Bordeleau earned a roughing minor for his efforts (an irate Stajan came back after the hit, but stayed in the dressing room after the first intermission with what the team called an “upper-body” injury.”)

When the gate opened to signal the end of his penalty, Bordeleau charged out of the box and dropped Mikael Backlund with an open-ice hit to negate a Calgary scoring chance.

In the second period, Bordeleau lined up Calgary defenceman Chris Butler behind the net, and once again landed in the penalty box — this time for charging.

From a Calgary perspective, Horak stole the limelight from Abbotsford Heat teammate Baertschi in terms of young guns to watch. He assisted on Calgary’s first goal by Roman Cervenka and set up Cammalleri with a beautiful pass from behind the net to give the Flames a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.“It’s always nice to have a big goal like that, a game-winning goal,” Cammalleri said. “But I thought Steve Begin had a great forecheck and Horak made a good pass.

“I just had to knock it in.”

Brad Malone scored the first goal of his NHL career on keen deflection to count for the Avs, who still reside in 30th place.

Calgary concludes this three-game road swing in 28th place with 32 points (the 29th-place Florida Panthers also have 32 points, but the Flames have a game in hand.)

Post-game, the Flames zipped out of the rink to the airport in record time in hopes of beating a springtime blizzard that threatened to cancel countless flights out of Denver.

“To get a win, everyone is going to get on the plane tonight, and everyone will be happy,” said head coach Bob Hartley. “I’m really proud for the boys, and I’m really happy for the boys.”

Even if average Calgarians feel anything but.

“You’re not going to go out there and shoot on your own goalie,” Cammalleri said. “You’re going to go out there and play as hard as you can, and you’re going to try and win the game.

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